The Final Hour
by ForceLightning
Summary: Plagued by fear and paranoia, River Song desperately hides something utterly important from the Doctor. Just when he thinks everything will be alright, he discovers something unimaginably and greatly disastrous. It doesn't take one great mind to realise what the universe has to offer in its final rage against the dying of the light... Collaboration with MeMyselfAndTARDIS
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So, here's a first go at a fanfiction collaboration with MeMyselfAndTARDIS. *Nervously walks up to readers. Drops off chapter. Runs away*

* * *

On the last day of Gallifrey, the final hour approaches. Rassillon knows his end is near and no number of regenerations can save him from the destruction of this pitiful red planet. He places both hands on the table before him and gives an evil smile as a plan comes to mind: To destroy the universe and take it with himself. It was the perfect way to die in battle and there's no way he would surrender to everything.

He orders the time Eye of Harmony be destroyed.

* * *

As the TARDIS lazily drifts in space, the Doctor looks back at River Song with a quizzical, yet mocking look.

"So, Professor River Song, why are you trying to avoid staying with me in the TARDIS?"

"Like I said," River grinned. "One psychopath per TARDIS, sweetie." The Doctor frowned at his wife whilst trying to concentrate on the TARDIS.

"You're lying. That's not what you're thinking. Don't play games with me. Don't ever think you are capable of playing games with me."

_-BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP-_

The TARDIS jerked and shook more violently, throwing both passengers to the floor. The Doctor muttered to himself and tried reassuring the TARDIS. He picked himself up in the midst of the tremors and noticed the monitor flashing a series of numbers. His eyes widened with each number that appeared and he gaped at the final words: 26062010 TEMPORAL DISTORTION DETECTED. Shocked, the Time Lord picks himself up and throws himself onto the console, fiddling with controls. "What is happening to my TARDIS?" River looked around in a panic and back at her husaband.

"This can't be happening! It can't be!" She gasped. The Doctor glared at River.

"River, what are you hiding from me?"

"Just land the TARDIS," the professor demanded. Her eyes bore the Doctor's. "I can't tell you now." The Doctor gives a long hard stare at his wife and frowns. He pulled the dematerialisation lever all too suddenly and the ship gave a final jerk. The central column glowed green no more and its activities halted as the TARDIS materialises at the source of the time eruption.

It was unmistakable. It didn't take moments to figure out the source of it all as the Doctor peered into the monitor. It displayed nothing more than the home planet of the Time Lords. Gallifrey.

* * *

The Doctor was the first to climb out of the badly shaken TARDIS, despite River's bickering about checking the conditions outside first. She finally staggers out, clutching her blue diary and grooming her already messy hair. He gazed at his red surroundings, not making eye contact with the professor and suddenly turned to the TARDIS.

"Extractor fans on!"

The TARDIS shakes violently and sparks fly out from within the console. With it's heart, the eye of harmony destroyed, it gives out one more wheeze and vibrates violently, with the Police Box exterior starting to disintegrate. It's circuits fail and the TARDIS appears as a faint silver box, then falls apart.

"No!" The Doctor shrieked, darting back to the broken exterior of his oldest and most dearest companion. He looks in horror as his love for 2000 years finally parts him. The shock in his eyes is unmistakable as River tries to calm him down. The last TARDIS throughout Time and Space and it's gone. The Doctor's greatest companion. Some left him, some got left behind. Some, not many, but, some died, and his TARDIS was one of the few. They turn away from the TARDIS and see the Citadel of the Time Lords. It was broken, burning, cracking apart. The loss of his home planet, the loss of his greatest companion, who helped him through every regeneration, the loss of the last TARDIS in the universe.

"Hold it together, Doctor, you can still save all of creation here." The Doctor muttered. "You know time is dying, and you need to save it." He gazes at the destruction around him. Not just Gallifrey, but time itself is dying as cracks in the skin of the universe appear everywhere. His TARDIS is dead, time is collapsing and he is the only man that can stand up against the Time Lords.

He walks solemnly towards the citadel with River closely behind.

"The mountains, the red scenery, the citadel under a dome..." River whispered. "Is this your… Is this Gallifrey?" She breathed.

"I'm home River. I'm back home." The Doctor then stays silent for the rest of the walk, still trying to hold himself together after the loss of his TARDIS. He halted and a thought struck him.

"What's wrong?" His wife asked.

"I feel like I missed something." He contemplated. "Something important… I think I… Oh! I know!" He exclaimed surprisingly excitedly. "Stay right here River!"

"Where are you going?"

The Doctor runs as fast as his Time Lord legs could carry him in the direction of the once blue box. He slows down as he gets closer and looks at his TARDIS. The TARDIS wasn't much bigger than the Blue Police Box. However, it was covered in the scars and burns of millennia of travel. The rusted, battered box that had fallen apart, left inside a single TARDIS key. The Doctor picks it up, silently, and places it in his pocket. He then runs back towards River but not before looking back one last time at that silver, broken box, then runs off. He gets back to where they were standing but the Professor was no where to be found.

Only her diary was left on the scarred grounds of Gallifrey.


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor whimpered in panic and scowled at his cowardice. His head shot around in all four directions and his vocal chords only struck the words "River!" Nothing but the deafening silence returned his call and a look of worry flashed his face. He brought two fingers towards his neck and loosened his bowtie. Breathing slowly to show no panic, he scanned the red barren desert. He brought his hands towards his mouth. "_River!_" He shouted even louder. The Doctor stumbled and looked at the blue book innocently lying on the ground. He frowned at it as if it personally insulted him and plucked it from the ground. He stared longingly at the book and blinked. The future, _his _future laid there, vulnerable and almost exposed in the palms of his hands. He gripped the book tightly and scrunched his face in deep concentration, but curiosity got the better of him. The Doctor opened the book and flicked through the first few pages, skimming through the adventures he'd already had with his wife: his wedding, his so-called "death" at Lake Silencio, the Silence, the Pandorica, the crash of the Byzantium… His eyes widened after that. Where were the rest of the pages? Surely, there were more… He frantically flicked through the diary and muttered under his breath. The remaining of the pages was blank - The rest of his future was blank. Does that mean…?

No.

He caught something at the corner of his eye. Words that were once written in the diary were disappearing. The Doctor gaped at this miraculous apparition. The black ink was gradually fading away revealing nothing but a blank page. The potential future River wrote about was fading… Immediately, the Doctor's head shot up and he saw the glass dome that encased the Citadel of his home. All he could do was run towards the city. After all, where can he go?

An enormous structure loomed up ahead, a tall building. Dozens of smaller buildings surrounded the largest one as they were all encased under a giant transparent dome. The Doctor looked around. What was once his home planet, his beautiful red home, the 'Shining world of the Seven Systems' on the Continent of Wild Endeavour in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude was nothing more than a mere pile of rubble and blood. The place was deserted and not even a single rodent stirred in the eerie silence. Even plant life here on Gallifrey was extinguished. The Doctor perched on the ground, grabbed a handful of red dust and let the dust blow in the chilly breeze. He scrunched his eyes, but it wasn't enough to remove himself from the horrors of the Time War. At once, he bounced back up and straightened his bowtie. He blinked as a wave of nostalgia hit him seeing an all too familiar scenery with a tree bearing a wooden swing from its branch surrounded by the fields of red grass. Memories of his academy days poured into his mind; the obnoxious laugh of the Rani, the constant yawns of Drax, the refreshing smell of fruit wafting in the classroom ten minutes before class dismissal and the many pieces of the academy memories puzzle made the Time Lord smile a little. He turned around and instantly recognized the next building. He gaped at the academy building itself. Portions of the building were destroyed, but the majority remained in tact. The Doctor glanced inside a circular window and smiled again seeing one of his classrooms. The memory of the annoyed sigh of his favourite teacher Azmael after catching the Doctor make a tiny dent in 1972 Earth flashed in his mind and he silently chuckled. The Doctor walked around the building, edging around fallen rocks and debris. If he still wasn't mistaken…

Yes.

The Doctor lifted a wooden plank from a wall to reveal a secret hideout he used to congregate in with the Master if they got into trouble. The Master… He sighed at the painful memories. In the distance, he noticed the fourth building from the left of the church.

That's right.

It was his home, the very building he lived, ate, played, breathed and it aged with red dust piled upon its roof. He hesitated, but dared not to precede any further. A portion of his life remained on this planet and the Doctor, no matter how hard he found it, tried to lock those memories behind metaphorical doors in his mind for seven hundred excruciating years of his life. Instead, he continued towards the largest building of them all – the Capitol. He grew wary with every step he took. The more silent it became, the more imaginary sounds the Doctor heard, so he fiddled his bowtie to get his mind off the growing paranoia.

He approached the grand hall and gazed at the familiar surroundings. All of a sudden, a booming sound of cheering was heard from within the depths of the building, halting the Doctor's train of thought. Already, his mind jumped to countless dreadful conclusions and there was no doubt one of them was correct. The Doctor sprinted into a corridor, panting from the physical and mental strain. He winced as he suddenly experienced a tingly sensation followed by the feeling of the weight of a thousand universes and time streams squeezing his head. He fought off the pain as from corridor to corridor; the sound was leading towards that dreaded room. The Doctor burst into the two majestic doors and staggered into the enormous room. He leaned on the doorframe and clutched his aching head. He looked up, glaring all the way across the long table of shocked Time Lords who sat by the side. His glower landed on none other than the President himself.

"Rassilon."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Doctor," the Lord President sneered. "Nice to see you witness us at the height of our glory." He glared at the Doctor and gave a menacing smile.

"What have you done?" he snarled, glowering at the other Time Lords surrounding the grand table. "What have you all done?" He said louder. He stumbled from a sudden and unnatural tremor. It wasn't just any typical tremor, oh no. The Time Lord could almost feel time itself ripping inside his head and he winced at the burning sensation. He looked back up at the Time Lords and they displayed no emotion. He pitied them.

"Oh!" Rassilon exclaimed in mock exasperation. "We just merely extinguished the Eye of Harmony - nothing like erasing a tiny dot in time and space," he said in a matter of fact tone. The Doctor stared at Rassilon wide eyed, anger boiled inside him as he muttered the following words slowly.

"That "dot" in time and space happens to be the very thing that sustains time and space," he growled. "Destroy it and-"

"And all of reality crumbles to nothing!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Crumbles down to mere dust that blows in the wind and with us being that wind that continues blowing them around – stirring them up. We will always win, Doctor." He finished off, chuckling in an ominous fashion. The Doctor scowled at his race before him. "And it gets better!" Rassilon pointed out, standing from his seat. "All realities will be destroyed. Isn't that the perfect way to win?" He laughed out.

"Why are you doing this, Rassilon?" He snapped. The Lord President sighed and sat back down on his thrown.

"The Doctor. So unpredictable yet too predictable," he jeered. "You're a Time Lord you should know." The Doctor frowned and Rassilon sighed again. "The Time Lords will rise to a level of consciousness," he finally declared.

"That's it," the Doctor quipped. "You plan to eradicate everything that exists in every single moon, planet and galaxy in every universe out of hubris?!" He shrieked. "What happened to everything we've done to make this universe what it is today? I've seen what it's like out there, it's beautiful. You're just gonna get rid of it like that?" He looked at each and every Time Lord in the room hard in their eyes. "And you allow him to do this?" He questioned, pointing at the Lord President. "Our leader," he retorted. But no one did so much as to even stir. For a second time, he scowled at his own race. Damn that Rassilon…

"Your words are futile, Doctor." Rassilon announced.

"Shut up," he bit back. The President didn't react. Why not play with the Doctor before everything goes kaput. After all, it amused him greatly.

"What are you gonna do? Do your impressive thing?" He rebuked. "Oh, look at me! I'm the Doctor and I can save all realities by uttering a few words," he mocked. The Doctor growled, shifting through his mind. For god's sake, he's clever. Why can't he think of anything? Every single thing is at stake, isn't that enough motivation for him to do something quicker? "It's pointless, Doctor." Rassilon called out. "You can even see it yourself. You always never believe things unless you see it for yourself, am I right? Take a look at that book," he pointed at River's diary the Doctor still willingly clutched. He hesitated before opening the diary for the second time. This time, more and more pages became empty than the last time and he stared at it in sheer terror. He staggered as another tremor came to life. "The Eye of Harmony can't hold on much longer, everything will disappear from top to bottom – from future to past." Rassilon stood up from his chair again and held out his hand. "You can't do anything, Doctor. Join us and we will die proudly." Immediately, the Doctor shut the book and stormed towards Rassilon.

"Take me to the-" He halted mid-sentence as two Time Lords at the table behind him lunged themselves at him. A deadly white glow of Rassilon's gauntlet fades to a glimmer and he slowly nods with gratitude at the two who caught the Doctor.

"The Untempered Schism?" He asked, finishing off the Doctor's sentence. The Doctor tried to wriggle free but failed and he couldn't speak since his mouth was gagged. For once, he felt utterly helpless. Rassilon tutted and sat back down. "You're too predictable, Doctor." He waved his hand at the two holding the restrained Time Lord and they dragged him towards the Untempered Schism – the very gap in time and space from where the whole of the time vortex was seen. It wasn't the same glow the last time he saw it. It merely gave off a very faint glow, enough to light a dark room. It was nothing less that of an incandescent bulb.

The Doctor stared at it wide eyed, noticing cracks searing inside the vortex spewing impossible paradoxes – events that should never happen and it sickened him. He saw a familiar face – the close-cropped hair, the large ears and nose, the black leather jacket, fighting the unmistakable image of the Daleks, his so-called death at Lake Silencio, the Pandorica and countless events that crammed inside his head. He whimpered as he tried to shut his eyes, but the temptation of gazing into the Vortex was far too great.

The Doctor felt a violent tremor as he heard the sizzle of a new crack forming dangerously near him in the vortex. He stared in awe at this miraculous apparition. Little by little, the crack grew and grew and finally opened enough for him to peer into it.

It was his human form and Rose.


End file.
